Four days at the wheel of a hydrogen car

By Nichola Groom

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - I love my cute, zippy little Mini Cooper, but lately I've been cursing it each time I spend more than $50 (25 pounds) to fill up.

So, when GM offered me the chance to test-drive a car that runs on hydrogen, I thought it would be a good way not only to save on gas but also to try a technology that some tout as the long-term answer to the emissions contributing to climate change.

And, I thought: "Just think of the bragging rights."

Before I could get behind the wheel, I had to go through an orientation. There, I saw a slide demonstrating the difference between what happens when there is a fuel leak in a hydrogen car versus a gasoline-powered car.

Because hydrogen is lighter than air, the hydrogen car had a thin flame shooting upwards at the rear of the car. The gas car, meanwhile, was completely engulfed in flames.

With that, I was ready to take a look at my car. There are just 100 hydrogen-powered Chevy Equinox cars in the country, and for four days, one of them would be mine.

(Other car makers are also developing hydrogen-powered vehicles. Honda said this week it had begun production of the FCX Clarity, planning to release 200 of them in Japan and the United States over the next three years.)

At first glance, the Equinox looked like a regular SUV, except for the words "GM Fuel Cell" on the side next to a design showing dozens of water molecules -- not exactly subtle.